


The Restoration

by Awildsnorlaxsenpai



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:48:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21652471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awildsnorlaxsenpai/pseuds/Awildsnorlaxsenpai
Summary: There's a call for crafters to come help in Ishgard and one miqo'te maid goes to help
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

The only sound that could be heard over the wind was the chattering of teeth. Sonia's teeth to be specific. Her arms were wrapped around herself strugging to keep herself warm as she walked into Ishgard. Not for the first time since feeling the bitter cold once again she questioned why she returned. Sonia hated this place it was far too cold her liking, not to mention the people here weren't exactly the most friendly. 

  
She had seen people talk about efforts in Ishgard to help recover the Firmament from the ravages of the dragonsong war. They needed all of the help they could get from able crafters and gatherer's and Sonia had the great idea to help. 

  
She scoffed at herself, what a mistake to come to this icy hell ho---

  
Sonia passed by a side alley and glanced down it. Several ishgardians were huddled around a small fire, their scruffy unkempt appearance marked them as citizens of the Brume. She frowned, remembering why she decided to come here in the first place. She wasn't sure how much her cooking skills would come in handy but it was better than sitting alone in her empty house doing nothing.

  
Having to step around debris from half destroyed walls and buildings, she made her way to one of the few taverns so she could warm herself up before going to the Firmament. Upon opening the door and stepping inside she immediatly felt better, Sonia took a seat at an empty table and tried to get the snow and ice off of her tail. Halfway through shaking the snow off she felt a tap on her shoulder, she looked up at a tall Au'ra man. Long bright white hair and white umbral eyes gave the man an almost etheral look, in fact Sonia almost accused him of being a ghost but remembering the tap on her shoulder she instead settled for, "Uhm hiya"

She couldn't help but feel intimidated since she realized she only came up to his chest in height, "Do you mind if I were to share your table?" 

  
"O-oh! Not at all, there's plenty of room" relieved that the ghost hadn't come to take her soul away she realized another benefit of having him sit with her...she could use his large frame to shield herself from any stray icy wind that blew into the tavern. 

  
The au'ra took a seat next to her before saying, "Thank you, it's been exhausting helping rebuild this place" Sonia wasn't very good at small talk but she couldn't just ignore him. 

"I...can only imagine, I've only recently arrived and haven't begun yet" she noticed the au'ra had a backpack on strapped tight with different tools for a variety of crafting, "I'm not too sure how my cooking skills will come in handy but hopefully it keeps me out of the cold"

  
The man seemed to think a moment before saying, "You would be surprised at what they might want you to gather..."

  
"Huh? How bad could it be?"

  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
"SNAKES?"

  
The hyur she was talking to gave a nod, as if the request was completely normal.

  
"Venomous snakes from the Azim Steppe! I'm surprised you people even know where that is!"

  
The man frowned at her, "I assure you the infusion they are apart of cures any ailment, we would all benefit greatly if you would make it"

  
"Yeah i'm sure it cures people...by killing them. Sure whatever, i'll get the snakes" Sonia gave a loud sigh before stepping away to think about what she was getting herself into. Even after hearing all the talk about how busy it was it still shocked her at the amount of people here working. Elbow to elbow is most places, all working on a variety of items. She saw someone earlier dragging around a dozen stoves behind them, who knows where in the Firmament they were going to put them all. Considering everything she's seen so far maybe gathering snakes in the Azim Steppe was to be expected. 

  
She walked over to the metal railing that overlooked the piles of debris and rubble that made up the vast majority of the Firmament, thinking back to the people she saw in the streets earlier her mind was made up that she did the right thing by coming here. A well timed gust of chilly air reminded her however, that she needed a warmer outfit than her maid uniform. While most of her time would be spent in the Azim Steppe gathering....adders...it would be nice to not have to defrost her limbs everytime she came to Ishgard. 

  
Taking one last look out over the debris Sonia began walking back to the main part of the city when she noticed the Au'ra from the tavern earlier. He sat around a bunch of cooking supplies making what appeared to be...

  
"Pasta?!" her sudden outburst caused the man to jump every so slightly but enough to cause the current pasta to shatter in front of him. He slowly turned his head around giving her a strained expression. 

"Oops er...sorry. They have me gathering venomous snakes and you get to make pasta? There is a clear dislike for maids here in Ishgard"

  
Taking just a moment to collect his thoughts the man responded,"Think of it another way, your skills exceed my own. You would be better off making a more complex recipe than simple pasta" his response was much more diplomatic and reasonable than Sonia's outburst.

  
She looked down at the ground shamefully and kicked the ground in a pout, "When you put it that way..." looking at the stacks of pasta around the Au'ra ready to be turned in she sighed, "It looks like I have a lot of catching up to do then, i'm going to need a really big sack for all of these snakes"

  
Seeing the change in her attitude he gave her a geniune smile, "I believe I can make you one out of pasta if you'd like"

  
Sonia's face cracked into a grin before giggling, the first time since arriving here. It wasn't going to be so bad afterall. 


	2. Helping hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Sonia really is better at fighting than gathering afterall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for a friend of mine, a small continuation of the previous chapter that has our characters interacting more

Not for the first time since arriving in Ishgard Sonia shivered despite now having clothing better suited to the snow and even a tail warmer, it seemed to penetrate the thickest of layers. Thankfully she was already arriving at her destination, stepping into the familiar inn she immediately saw a familiar face pouring over what appeared to be a map on the table in front of him.

  
Sonia walked over and while standing on her tip toes peered over his shoulder to get a better look at the map. It was of..

  
"The Shroud? We're a long way from there" Sonia spoke her thoughts aloud, a small part of her wanting to make him jump in surprise but no such luck. He must have gotten used to her showing up at random moments during his crafting. 

  
"Oh hello Sonia" he greeted her as she sat down across from him, when she first met him she was intimidated by his size and his piercing white eyes, the world itself seemed determined to make him seem more intimidating with the way the light of the fireplace shined off of his black scales. Now though she knew he was a big softie. 

  
"Hiya Mr. Kha"

  
"Please i've asked you before to just call me Chuluun, unless you prefer me to call you Mrs. Florence" Sonia scrunched up her face in reponse to being called something so...old.

  
"I think we both know by now i'm not nearly mature enough to be called that" 

  
"Are you certain? You seem old eno---" Chuluun was silenced midsentence by a glare from Sonia, he resumed a moment later after choosing his next words with care, "You seem to be more mature than you give yourself credit for"

  
Satisfied with his answer Sonia changed the subject, "What are you doing looking at a map of the Shroud? It's a bit of a walk from here"

  
Chuluun nodded in agreement, "You know that nothing is off limits to where they ask us to gather for Ishgard"

  
Thinking back to her travels to the Azim steppe, Sonia winced remembering the countless adders she had to grab...

  
"I was trying to plan a route to gather the most materials I could at once, however..." he pointed to several spots on the map, "These areas i've been told are swarming with large bees and the like. My two usual companions aren't here to help me clear them out so I might just have to avoid the thicker areas"

"Why avoid them? We can go take care of it" Sonia said matter-of-factly

  
Chuluun's eyes rose in surprise, "You...would like to help me? I'll admit Sonia I didn't think you were a fighter"

  
She felt a frown tug the corner of her lips and she cast her eyes downward for a moment. Sonia knew all too well she didn't look like a fighter especially when they first met with her tail nearly frozen solid in her maid outfit. However Sonia had someone she didn't want to lose and had learned to take care of herself and to protect others, the world was getting dangerous...she couldn't afford to be complacent. 

  
"It's not like I dress like a maid on the battlefield! If I help you it also helps other people right? Then others will be able to travel those routes safer, it's a win for everyone"

  
Chuluun held up his hands in a soothing gesture, "I meant no offense, I was merely voicing my surprise. I would be honored to have you help me" he gave her a warm smile.

  
"Good! Then let's go saddle up on my chocobo, we can talk tactics on the way there"

  
If Chuluun was surprised by her sudden eagerness to leave he didn't show it, "Tactics? Well there are swarms of giant bees and other dangerous wildlife so to deal with them..."

  
"I'll grab their attention and you strike them down, sound good?"

They both looked at each other as they were walking out of the door a brief pause before Chuluun responded "Yes, I trust your abilities Sonia"

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
The heavy thud of Sonia's metal boots echo'd amongst the trees as she sprinted making as much noise as possible. Following her was the cacophonous sounds of dozens of large bees flying after her. They were around a little larger than a lalafell, so being a "large" bee was a bit of an understatement. 

  
She dashed out of the treeline and into a small clearing before turning to face the foes she had gathered on her mad sprint through the bushes. Sonia readied herself, gripping her sword tighter and placing her shield in front of her ready to hit by a tidal wave of bees. 

  
However, it seemed the swarm was too focused on reaching their intended target they didn't notice that every so often one of them would fall out of the sky with a dagger buried in it's back.

  
In only a few moments the bees crashed against her shield try to give her an unfinal sting, if they were expecting an easy target they were sorely mistaken as Sonia smacked each bee away with her shield. It was all just giving time for Chuluun to strike from the shadows, despite his bulk he was extremely dexterous and was able to blend into the shadows with practiced ease. Everytime he appeared out of the shadows a ferocious bee found a dagger in it's back with pinpoint accuracy. In reality the "battle" was over in a few minutes, Sonia sheathed her sword and Chuluun his daggers. 

  
"Well that takes care of this area, shall we continue partner?" Chu looked over at Sonia

  
She nooded, "Let's get to it Chuluun, we have some work to do!" It wasn't a Mr. Kha so it was an improvement to say the least.

  
The two party members dashed off into the trees again to put an end to the bee menace.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was something that came to mine while mass crafting for Ishgard, totally didn't do it only for the emote and tanktop


End file.
